Raquel Zitani-Rios (she/they) is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research examines how housed residents make sense of and respond to homelessness, focusing on the cultural frames that shape perceptions, civic engagement, and everyday actions. Using a mixed qualitative approach that combines in-depth interviews with participant observation at city council and community meetings, Raquel explores how people's experiences, observations, and concerns influence their views and actions toward homelessness. Her work shows how residents’ interactions with local government and unhoused communities expose struggles over power, space, place, and belonging, particularly amid shifting legal landscapes that redefine the rights of unhoused individuals. By analyzing the interpretive frameworks residents draw on, Raquel’s research traces the fragile boundary between ideals of justice and practices of exclusion—and how community responses can either reinforce structures of marginalization or create openings for more inclusive urban futures.
Department and Institution:
Sociology, UC Berkeley
Bio/CV:
